


dal Segno

by SnowyDawn17



Series: Oratorio [2]
Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Amami Rantaro (Mentioned) - Freeform, Takes place early chapter 5, it's spelled Ouma and that is the hill I will die on
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-26
Updated: 2018-04-26
Packaged: 2019-04-28 09:39:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,250
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14446509
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SnowyDawn17/pseuds/SnowyDawn17
Summary: Passed out at the desk in the back corner of the room, three stacks of folders to his left and a mess you could, if you were being generous, call a pile to his right. Was that a notebook, too?Had Kokichi been taking notes?Kaito finds Kokichi passed out in the middle of the Ultimate Detective's Lab.





	dal Segno

**Author's Note:**

> dal Segno
> 
> > Literally, "from the sign". A symbol used to mark where to begin repeating a passage of music.

“Kokichi?”

 

It was a little after the nighttime announcement. Kaito had been sitting in one of the sixteen chairs in his own lab when the monitors buzzed to life, startling him out of his thoughts. Deciding he wouldn’t be getting much further in solving the vault puzzle -- unless he decided to say fuck it and trial and error the damn thing -- Kaito stood up, stretched, and left. The hallway was dim without sunlight but he had still noticed the half-open door of the Ultimate Detective’s Lab. Maybe Amami had stayed up too, looking for the mentioned hint? His help was appreciated, but Kaito didn’t want Amami running himself ragged for a dumbass puzzle--

 

But nope, he had pushed the door open and found, of all people, Kokichi. Passed out at the desk in the back corner of the room, three stacks of folders to his left and a mess you could, if you were being generous, call a pile to his right. Was that a notebook, too? Had Kokichi been taking notes?

 

He stepped closer and raised a hand to shake Kokichi awake, but stopped short. The papers scattered across the desk… Kokichi had been reading a bunch of murder cases? A glance at the bookshelf revealed he had taken out roughly half the folders. Based on the stacks-slash-pile, he’d gotten through a third of that before passing out. But why would Kokichi…?

 

“...Momo...chan?” 

 

Kaito started, not realizing he had managed to wake Kokichi without trying. The pianist yawned and stretched his arms above his head before falling back into the chair, his hands falling neatly over whatever he had been writing before he fell asleep. He wasn’t… no, he wasn’t, Kaito was positive.

 

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Kaito waved a hand at the mess of paper. “The hell’re you up to?”

 

Kokichi smiled, his eyes sparkling. “Oh, just a bit of light reading, Momota-chan! I got bored waiting for you and Amami-chan to figure out that stupid door, so I came over here instead and found these!” He threw his arms out with a flourish and almost knocked over one of the stacks of folders, not that he seemed to notice. 

 

“And you’ve been here so long you passed out?”

 

“It hasn’t been  _ that _ long!” Kokichi pouted. 

 

Kaito raised an eyebrow. “The nighttime announcement went off like, five minutes ago.”   
  


“...oh.”

 

“Yeah,  _ oh _ .” Kaito cleared a space on the desk and pushed himself up so he could sit down, facing Kokichi. He started speaking but cut himself off, squinting a little as he stared at Kokichi’s face. “...Have you been sleeping?”

 

“Wh- of  _ course _ , Momota-chan!” Kokichi scoffed. “You practically walk me to my room every night, you know that.” 

 

“And I see you roaming around half the time when I break into your Lab an hour and a half later.”

 

“Not like me staying  _ in _ my room would prove anything, either. You’ve set me up to lose, Momota-chan!” Kokichi wailed, fake tears building up in the corners of his eyes. “How mean! ...Unless…” He cut himself off with a sharp gasp and a sly grin stretched across his face as Kokichi tilted his head, shadows falling across his eyes. “Are you trying to say you want to share a bed with me, Momota-chan? How bold!”

 

Kaito spluttered. “Hw- WH- the HELL dude, where the fuck did THAT come from?”

 

“Oh! Momota-chan isn’t denying it, I see!” Kokichi continued, despite Kaito’s loud protests.

 

“ _ Why _ are you  _ like this _ ,” Kaito groaned, dragging a hand down his face. 

 

“Like what?” With a blink the dark expression was gone, replaced by an overly cutesy head tilt. 

 

“You’re tryin’ to frustrate me so I forget what I was gonna say,” Kaito sighs, resting his hand on his neck. Kokichi’s face went blank at the callout and Kaito froze.  _ Shit. _ He knows Kokichi doesn’t like…  _ this _ , whatever “this” is. It’s an abrupt subject change at best after an awkward, hanging silence; at worst it’s the sinking feeling of a thousand walls slamming into place behind a cold smile and colder words. Kokichi’s perfectly capable of taking this wherever he wants. He has jokes and taunts and threats and everything between and beyond, and Kaito has absolutely no idea which way he’ll go.

 

“...was it…” Kokichi clears his throat. “Was it working?” His arms are still covering his notes, but his knuckles are white and his fists are slightly trembling. Kaito almost chokes on air in shock, then has to fight back a cough; now  _ really _ isn’t the time. 

 

The atmosphere is too heavy, too serious and weighty for a moment with Kokichi, and it’s setting Kaito on edge. He knows the longer he takes to reply the more nervous Kokichi will get, the likelihood of a lie being thrown in his face grows and the walls start to creep up again. But this is important. 

 

Kaito tugs at his scarf and looks to the side, embarrassed. “N-no…”

 

Kokichi goes still. 

 

And then a grin, like a cat slinking through the shadows, creeps across his face. “Are you suuuuuure about that, Momota-chan?”

 

Fuck. “Hey, hey- HEY. No. Don’t you start-!”

  
“Nishishi~ Momota-chan tooooootally forgot!”

 

“Shut UP, I- Hey! I know  _ exactly  _ what I was gonna say, just give me a sec- KOKICHI-!” The pianist had grabbed his notebook and ducked under Kaito’s lunge (an attempt to slap a hand over his mouth, no doubt), slipping off the chair and dancing a few steps back as Kaito overbalanced, swore, and almost fell off his table-seat.

 

“You’d better start taking notes of your own if your short-term memory is starting to go, too!” Kokichi giggled as Kaito looked up and glared.

 

“Alright, that’s it, we’re doing this.” 

 

And with that the taller boy pushed off the table, landing on his feet and lunging towards Kokichi, who let out a loud shriek and started running. The marble floors provided a fantastic sliding surface that was either wonderful or terrible for a chase (or game of tag), depending on who you asked. Kokichi slid to a near-complete stop and turned towards the stairs, giggling all the while, while Kaito’s shoulder slammed into the wall and caused him to grunt. He really shouldn’t be pushing himself like this, but… damn if could ever pass up some dumb fun. 

 

Kokichi was waiting at the bottom of the staircase with a cheeky grin, thought it faltered slightly when Kaito stopped without coming down. “...Momota-chan…?”

 

Kaito looked him square in the eyes. “I’m coming for you, you little shit.” 

 

And then he leaps half the staircase in one jump.

 

Kokichi  _ bolts _ like his life depends on it and Kaito finds himself grinning wildly as he ignores the burn and pain in his  _ chestheartlungs  _ because fuck it, this is who he wants to be and this is  _ how _ he wants to be. He might pay for it later, he thinks, as Kokichi throws a glance over his shoulder and turns the next corner, the loud tapping of his quick steps down the next staircase -- one at a time -- soon drowned out by Kaito’s even louder ones -- two at a time, thank you height difference -- as shrieks and playful threats bounce off the prison walls. 

 

He’ll pay for it later, but honestly? 

 

Almost tackling Kokichi over the railing of the second floor of the dorms because he was too slow in picking open his door and collapsing, together, in a messy pile of tangled limbs (and scarf) and unabashed laughter?

 

Worth it. 


End file.
